Introduction

Hi everyone, this is my first guide here! Let me tell you that Pantheon is my most played champion at the moment (kills > assists > deaths) and I am here to share my experience with you. I have read most Pantheon guides in this site and i must tell that few of them are quite good. However, one issue that I come to deal with is how to increase Pantheon's survivability during mid and late game.
Pantheon is what we call a glass cannon with a lot of burst damage, relying mostly on his abilities rather than his auto-attacks in comparison to other physical carries. His abilities scale with attack damage, making him a melee caster, a bit like Katarina. Pantheon shines mostly at early and mid game. With this build, we will try to maximize his burst damage, while making sure that he has enough durability to stay alive most of the times.

Pantheon gathers his strength and then leaps high in to the air, crashing down at the target area a few seconds later. Deals up to 400/700/1000 (+1 per ability power) magic damage to units at the center (down to 33% at the edge) and slows them by 35% for 1 second.

Global teleport that deals area of effect damage and slow, needs some practice to land successfully. Can be used in teamfights, ganks and pushing/backdooring.

NOTE - This patch has disabled the use of summoner's spells during Grand Skyfall, so Flash and Exhaust become less important. However the landing time of Skyfall is reduced, making it easier to aim and strike enemies with it. I believe that practicing the use of this spell against enemies can be very rewarding from now on.

League of Legends v1.0.0.86

Pantheon

* Reduced the summoner's spell cooldown so that players can cast summoner spells right after Pantheon completes his Grand Skyfall

League of Legends v1.0.0.94

Pantheon

* Heartseeker Strike
o Fixed a bug where Heartseeker Strike was dealing too much damage based upon your bonus damage.
o Fixed a bug where Heartseeker Strike procced cast effects with every Heartseeker Strike tick
o Damage scaling increased to 20/25/30/35/40%.
o Heartseeker Strike will now properly double the damage of the entire ability against champions, rather than just doubling part of the damage
* Fixed a bug where Spear Shot was not scaling with enough of your damage from items
* Spear Shot damage scaling increased to 100/115/130/145/160%, from 100/110/120/130/140%.
* Grand Skyfall now breaks spell shields and is blocked by spell shields.
* Fixed a bug with Grand Skyfall where it was slowing for an incorrect amount of time.
* Pantheon will now be properly considered melee for the sake of items like Youmuu's Ghostblade.

NOTE - This is a buff to Spear Shot damage. Heartseeker Strike damage remains the same with this adjustment.

NOTE - An overall nerf to Pantheon' s early game. Spear shots are more difficult to spam due to mana cost and hearsteeker is a bit weaker, so you have to try harder now for some early kills. Stun is shorter at early levels, making the basic combo a bit trickier. However, Aegis is a lot better now when maxed out (2 sec stun is really cool) and the short cooldown makes chasing a lot easier. The stats changes are hardly noticeable.

NOTE - A serious buff to Heartseeker Strike's scaling. This skill is now much more powerful at rank 1 and a bit more powerful at rank 5. The nerf to Spear Shot's base damage is not really important. Grand Skyfall's mana cost has been reduced to normal levels and Aegis Protection blocks more powerful attacks as the game progresses.

NOTE - A minor nerf to the first ranks of Spear Shot and Heartseeker Strike in order to prevent Pantheon's huge momentum at early levels. Ranks 2-5 of Spear Shot and Ranks 3-5 of Heartseeker Strike are essentially the same, damage wise.

League of Legends v1.0.0.108

Pantheon

* Grand Skyfall is now more visible to allies. The green circle that allies see now appears when Pantheon starts channeling. The red circle that enemies see still draws when he leaps into the air

NOTE - A significant utility buff for Pantheon's ultimate. It helps your team a lot in ganks/teamfights and guarantees better teamplay, which is really important in solo queue matches.

NOTE - This makes Pantheon's basic nuke a little more tricky to use in most situations. Aegis might need leveling up earlier.

League of Legends v1.0.0.111

Pantheon

* Heartseeker Strike now deals damage slower - it takes 0.5 seconds longer to deal full damage
* Grand Skyfall now has a small area near the center that deals full damage (previously it was impossible to deal full damage to any target)

Pros / Cons

Pros:
- Swift and powerful assassin.
- Early game dominance.
- Amazing ganking potential.
- Great potential in teamfights.
- Farms really well.
- Great as a hunter and disabler.
- Global teleport.
- Pantheon's abilities scale with Attack Damage and deal physical damage.
- He is a Spartan, we like him for looking badass.

Cons:
- Squishy without survivability items.
- No escape mechanism.
- His late game is a bit weaker compared to early/mid game.
- Has mana issues early game.
- His ultimate is tricky to land on target.

Masteries & Runes

Masteries
After some debate, I have concluded that an offense/utility combination is the best choice for Pantheon at the moment. Armor penetration, mana regen, movement speed, cooldown reduction, increased experience and neutral buff duration works wonders with this champion. Going deep inside the other mastery trees won't benefit you that much. The Offensive tree's damage increase is minor, so is the Defensive tree's damage reduction, if you bother checking the numbers.

Summoner Abilities

Ghost - Probably the best Summoner spell there is, top recommended. It helps you escape as well as chase. Considering that Pantheon is a champion with no escape mechanisms and relatively squishy, it would be foolish not to pick this spell.

Flash - Another great escape mechanism with longer cooldown than Ghost, recommended.

Ignite - Pretty good spell if you want to add some damage to your basic combo and ensure a kill. It also counters enemies that rely on healing/regeneration (Vladimir, Dr Mundo). Very useful for early game kills, recommended.

Exhaust - Another offensive spell, use it to disable your enemy so you can kill him or escape. Counters physical carries. Recommended.

Cleanse - Another defensive spell with a short cooldown. Counters Exhaust and other disables that make you vulnerable. Recommended, use it along with Ghost/ Flash.

Heal - Useful early game, but becomes useless later on. There are better defensive options. On the other hand, if you like playing All Random All Mid games, it's pretty much necessary there.

Smite - Yes, Pantheon can jungle, but he is slower than Warwick or Amumu. If you prefer to jungle, you always have to take this spell.

Clairvoyance - A spell of great utility, that happens to have good synergy with your ultimate. However, it may be better to invest on survivability/offense instead of utility/team support since you are an assassin.

[spell=Rally] - This spell's effects benefit Pantheon, but it's cooldown is not appealing. You might want to use more reliable offensive spells ( Exhaust/ Ignite).

Teleport - You already have a global teleport, so this spell is unneeded. You had better invest in survivability/offense. However, if you are part of a well-organised premade team that depends on this spell, you could consider getting it.

Revive - Some people use the Revive + Grand Skyfall combo. I can't really comment on it's viability, but given the fact that Revive's cooldown is ridiculously long, this combo seems rather unreliable.

[spell=Fortify] - Not recommended. Mediocre utility spell, not suited for an assassin.

NOTE - I highly recommend the use of at least one defensive summoner spell, especially Ghost, when playing Pantheon because he can be shut down rather easily. Moreover, you need to keep the stacks from Sword of the Occult if you choose to snowball with this item.

Skilling Order

NOTE - Put some points in Heartseeker Strike to maximize your burst early on. After that, try to get rank 3 of both Aegis of Zeonia and Spear Shot somewhere between levels 9 and 13. This order is not very strict but bear in mind that you need ranks of all your spells to do well early-mid game.

NOTE -The first item order focuses on rushing heavy attack damage early on and getting survivability later, while the second focuses on obtaining both offense and survivability very early. You have to decide which build suits your playstyle better. Remember to grab an Elixir of Fortitude in case you feel weak, but you don't have much gold to spend or when you have completed your build. Also, don't forget to buy wards!

Item Discussion

As I have already mentioned, Pantheon is viable when played as a physical caster. His abilities deal physical damage ( Spear Shot and Heartseeker Strike) and scale with his Attack Damage. That being said, stats like Attack Speed and Critical Chance don't benefit our champion that much, whereas Armor Penetration and Attack Damage are highly essential.

Offensive Items

Doran's Blade - Best starting item, it has excellent synergy with your runes/masteries. You can get more than one early on. Doran's stacking is something that really benefits Pantheon and his early game.

Last Whisper - The Void Staff for physical casters. This item is made for Pantheon and there is no reason to avoid getting it as your first choice. Remember though that flat armor penetration doesn't synergise well with this item, so you should not exceed 20 flat armor penetration when you plan to get Whisper.

The Brutalizer/ Youmuu's Ghostblade - This item is still good for Pantheon but it's flat armor penetration doesn't work well with Last Whisper, your first choice. You could pick this over Whisper in case you face a team of squishies who will not get armor to counter you (this happens at low elo mostly). Upgrading it to Ghostblade gives you an awesome active effect you can use against enemies and turrets.

Sword of the Occult - Snowball item that can make you shine if you get a bunch of early kills, but truth is that it' s a situational purchase. If you think that the situation favors you, then go for it. Note that it becomes less viable the higher your elo gets.

Manamune - This item is very cost-efficient considering the amount of damage it grants when maxed. Highly recommended if you face mana problems.

Phage/ Frozen Mallet - This item is offensive as much as defensive and it's really great if you plan to build survivability early on ( right after Last Whisper or Manamune for example). If you have reached a point where you need real tankiness though, opt for a Health/Armor or Health/MR item. Also, avoid getting it if the enemy has [item=Madred's Bloodrazor].

Hexdrinker - Shiny new item that grants both offensive and defensive stats. It's very cost efficient and grants notable protection against casters. Mostly an early/mid game item, recommended.

The Bloodthirster - Best pure offensive option for Pantheon. Don't forget to farm well in order to max it's effect. If you have farming problems or die a lot, you should prefer other items though.

Infinity Edge - Not recommended, very expensive item and critical chance does not apply on his abilities. It is better in Treeline though, because The Bloodthirster is pretty bad there.

The Black Cleaver - This item is decent, but it is outshined by better items. Attack speed
and flat armor penetration per auto-attack are not good enough to upgrade B. F. Sword to this.

[item=Madred's Bloodrazor] - Not recommended, auto-attack item. Also, Pantheon's abilities do not apply on-hit effects. However, I have to note that it could be purchased if you find yourself against an hp stacking team and no one of your teammates is likely to buy it.

Trinity Force - No, no and no. This item is not for Pantheon. Half of it's stats do not really benefit him, not to mention that it's the most expensive item in the game. For 4 k gold you can really get much better stats.

Atma's Impaler - I don't like the recipe of this item, it doesn't really benefit Pantheon until it is complete.

NOTE - The games here are short and fast-paced, so the main idea is that we prefer items that are cheap, offer quick results early on (unlike Manamune and Atma's Impaler) and can be built into more powerful items. We also avoid snowball items like Sword of the Occult or The Bloodthirster because the game progresses really fast and an undesirable death can put you in great disadvantage. Doran's Blade stacking is a really great way to start the game.

Early Game ( Laning Phase)

Getting a solo lane and denying/killing the enemy solo is really important, especially in solo queue games. Pantheon is really good in shutting down the enemy in a lane. Duo lane is not bad either. Try to control your zone using Spear Shot to last hit minions and harass the enemy. The main idea is that you harass the squishy opponent and when he is low enough, stun and nuke him ( Aegis of Zeonia---> Heartseeker Strike---> Spear Shot). Ignite and Exhaust can be very helpful to ensure an early kill. Scoring early kills and purchasing attack damage items early on will make you almost unstoppable for most of the game. Be aggressive, very few champions can deal with you at early levels. However, in case that your opponent proves himself better than you, don't overextend, play defensively or ask your teammates to switch lanes. Also, remember to buy wards so as to avoid enemy ganks, especially if you are a solo laner.

- Of course much more combinations are viable, but the main idea is that a good damage dealer with heavy crowd control will make Pantheon shine at this phase, especially when combined with a decent support spell ( Imbue, Eye Of The Storm, Black Shield etc ).

- There is this great video created by Riot Shurelia about zone control. It is very enlightening about positioning, harassing etc. I highly suggest that you pay attention to it.

Mid Game ( Gank Phase)

After the laning phase wears off, you should start ganking other lanes. Your first B. F. Sword, which should be ready by now, gives you awesome burst damage, enough to kill squishies in an instant. Get Lizard buff, then rush to the easiest target (solo laners, squishy or overextending targets are a priority). Use your ultimate to trap the enemy (let your allies know what you are about to do), then strike him with everything you've got. If your performance so far has been bad, focus on farming. Don't forget to push a lane or defend when the time is right. Farm, gank, push, defend.

Late Game ( The Final Push )

With your survivability boost ( tank items, Elixir of Fortitude) you should be pretty hard to kill by now. Remember that you are not a late game hero, your enemies are tankier than they used to and you need to stay alive in teamfights. Avoid overextending or engaging enemies alone and keep farming, but with safety. Stick with your team and try to set traps to the enemies (baiting, ganks etc). When the time is right, rush to Baron and get the buff, then push. Dragon, Golem and Lizard buffs are also important to get for you or your team. Don't forget that backdoor is always an option with your ultimate.

Working in the team

In teamfights you are the physical nuker/assassin of your team, so wait until your tank initiates and approach right afterwards. The best option is to use your ultimate in order to make your enemies split up, but remember to judge whether the time is right. If you think you will get focused and killed quickly, avoid using Grand Skyfall. Stun your target (the enemy carry) and position yourself so that you can cast Heartseeker Strike on more than one enemies. If you achieve the full combo you will most likely win the teamfight. Bear in mind that getting disabled is the worst thing that can happen to Pantheon in a teamfight, so do your best to avoid it.

Tips and Tricks

- Play aggressively early on and you shall be rewarded. As the game approaches it's end, be more careful and stick to your team more.

- Even after a bad start, good farming can let you catch up with the other players.

- Getting Attack Damage early on is a high priority! It will give you a lot of burst damage.

- Elixir of Fortitude is a very cheap and effective item. You should use it every now and then, especially if you have a bad start.

- Buy wards!!!

- Take as many jungle buffs as you can in both maps. They all benefit Pantheon (leave blue buff to your team's casters).

- If you want to see Pantheon in action, you should watch Pantheon Champion Spotlight created by Riot's Phreak. It is very enlightening about how Pantheon should be played.

- This is a funny video showing me and my friends fountain diving to ace the enemy team. Some enemies were afk though and that Shaco bastard got away. Enjoy!!!

http://www.xfire.com/video/25123a/

Some Thoughts

UPDATE shortly after release
Personally speaking, I think that Pantheon is a good burst champion/nuker, but he kinda needs a survivability buff. In high elo matches most melee champs (besides tanks) are less viable than other classes because they easily get nuked / disabled to death when being in the forefront of the fight. Considering Pantheon has not a unique escape mechanism, he is on the weak side of this category. To sum up, I think that some improvements which would make Pantheon more viable in competitive play are the following ;

- Increase his basic defensive stats.
- Make his ultimate grant some Armor/Magic Resistance or damage reduction after landing.
- Improve his passive's effectiveness late game.

UPDATE 25/6/2010

Pantheon is even more of a death machine as of the v1.0.0.94 patch! Heartseeker Strike hits as hard as it always would, despite the bugfix (seriously, the difference is hardly noticeable). What's important, Pantheon's burst damage is augmented due to the buff to Spear Shot, which hits really hard now. The combo Aegis of Zeonia---> Heartseeker Strike---> Spear Shot is even more powerful now. Don't waste time, wear your helmet, grab your aegis and spear and let your enemies know war!

UPDATE 14/7/2010

I can't say I am happy with the Season One patch. Pantheon's early game was nerfed and the changes didn 't compensate enough for this. Clarity becomes more important now, if you want to spam spear shots. However, I am very fond of the changes to Aegis of Zeonia. The shorter cooldown makes chasing easier and the 2 seconds stun is a lot better later in the game.

UPDATE 11/9/2010

The introduction of Manamune is a considerable buff to Pantheon. This item should be purchased in every game with Pantheon and most physical carries that use mana. For only 1900 gold, it offers a high amount of AD and solves all mana problems.

UPDATE 21/10/2010

The changes to Last Whisper are a big buff to Pantheon's late game. Many of you have been complaining that you can't do any damage to tanks like Malphite and Rammus. Well, not anymore. Last Whisper's 40% armor penetration now works with Spear Shot and Heartseeker Strike (same with Garen's Judgment and Urgot's Acid Hunter). However, don't forget that flat armor penetration doesn't have good synergy with this item, so don't stack tons of it if you opt for Last Whisper. Also don't rush this item if you don't have a large amount of Attack Damage to support it. Have fun! Oh, and by the way, I 'm still waiting for those promised Pantheon's buffs...

UPDATE 24/11/2010

I 've made some changes to Masteries, Items and laning sections, as well as some text rephrasing. The new item Hexdrinker is another great offensive/defensive option for Pantheon. I like it a lot. Now, let me tell you that it is very likely that Pantheon changes are coming with Trundle patch, as hinted by Riot Guinsoo. We shall wait and see...

UPDATE 3/12/2010

At last Pantheon got a buff! A big buff that is, Heartseeker Strike has returned to it's former glory and is very bursty early on even without leveling it up. Apart from that, Spear Shot is very slightly nerfed while Grand Skyfall has been brought to reasonal mana cost levels. Changes to Panth's passive are both useful and welcome. Also, to those of you who come across whiners like ''OMFG PANTH IS SO OP NOW HE KILLS ME IN 1 SECOND PLZ NERF RIOT'', please be polite and helpful and suggest them a Chain Vest.

UPDATE 16/12/2010

The nerfs to Spear Shot and Heartseeker Strike's early ranks are noticeable, but should not be a problem if you are a competent Pantheon player. The most important changes of this patch are the changes to items. Last Whisper becomes the undisputed best item for Pantheon, even better than The Brutalizer. Elixir of Fortitude has been severely nerfed and it's no longer a must buy each time you bluepill. It's now more of an extra tick of health and damage when you feel weak and don't have enough gold to buy a ''big'' item or when you have filled your your inventory. Randuin's Omen and Banshee's Veil have also been nerfed, but they still remain the best pure defensive items of the game.

UPDATE 5/1/2010

The newest buff to Pantheon is very good and all, but honestly it's nothing more than Riot's excuse to nerf him more in the future (you heard it here first). Don't be surprised if you see some nerfs next patch. I just hope he will not end up worse than before 1.0.0.106 patch... Anyways, the new Armor item for casters and the new Exhaust counter him quite hard, so Last Whisper becomes more important.

UPDATE 20/1/2010

Personally, I am satisfied with this nerf. While it may delay Pantheon's killing prowess early on, it doesn't hurt his early game a lot, especially if you are a good player. Furthermore, if the enemy is a competent player himself, he can counter Pantheon easier, which is fair and fine.

UPDATE 21/2/2010

Another nerf aimed at making this champion more difficult, rather than weaker. Previous nerf hurt much more than this one.

Conclusion

My guide is imperfect yet, so please give me feedback and you will see this guide getting better. I have already updated it a couple of times and I am constantly testing new things. Finally, please excuse my mediocre English. English is not my native language, as I am from Greece( pretty cool huh, Greek guy maining Pantheon! ).